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Housing Discrimination

Welcome to the Housing Discrimination section of FindLaw's Civil Rights center, with practical and historical information about federal fair housing laws. The legal concept of fair housing holds that no one should suffer unequal treatment in housing decisions based on a protected characteristic such as race, or disability. Anyone who treats an individual unequally in a housing decision based on one of these characteristics has likely engaged in housing discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act. This section contains information on discrimination and fair housing rights for home buyers and renters (tenants), and what to do if you are unlawfully denied housing.

What is Housing Discrimination?

To discriminate is to treat someone differently -- usually in an adverse manner -- on the basis of an arbitrary trait or category. For instance, landlords may not exclude prospective tenants from consideration just because they are African-American. These protections also extend to home buyers and mortgage loan applicants. Discrimination against housing applicants is very difficult to prove in the absence of evidence pointing to a landlord or real estate agent's intent, similar to charges of discrimination against job applicants.

Specifically, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. This also applies to perceptions of such characteristics. For example, a landlord who refuses to rent to an applicant he (falsely) believes is Muslim has violated federal law even if the applicant is not Muslim.

Types of Discriminatory Acts Prohibited by the Fair Housing Act

There are a number of ways a landlord, real estate agent, mortgage lender, or other involved party may discriminate against applicants, tenants, or homeowners. If you are part of a protected group, you may be able to file a claim for discrimination if a party committed any of the following acts against your interests:

Refusal to rent or sell housing

Refusal to negotiate housing

Making housing unavailable to certain applicants

Offering different terms or conditions to different applicants

Persuading others to sell or rent their property for a profit

In addition, lenders and financial institutions may not commit the following acts in a discriminatory manner:

Refusal to make a loan

Refusal to provide information about a loan

Imposing different rates for different applicants (regardless of credit score and other tangible factors)

Discrimination in appraisal or valuation

Those with physical or mental disabilities also have certain rights and protections. For instance, landlords must make reasonable modifications to a property for disabled tenants. Also, public and common areas (such as the laundry room) must be accessible to persons with disabilities, in addition to handicap-accessible routes and parking spaces.

Fair Housing and the U.S. Supreme Court

As with many other areas of the law, fair housing laws are partially shaped by decisions made at the Supreme Court. Some of the most prominent among these include:

A collection of commonly asked questions about housing discrimination. Find answers to your questions about the types of illegal housing discrimination, the types of properties that are exempt, and more.

Landlords are prohibited from rejecting tenants based on a disability. Learn about who qualifies as disabled under the Fair Housing Act, types of discriminatory questions, the right to an accommodation, and more.

A number of federal laws protect individuals from being discriminated against in housing matters. This article provides links and information on the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and more.